Unheard Voices

If you have been residing in Bangladesh, you know how Arnob has brought in a remarkable change in Bangladeshi music scene.    Arnob’s music is fresh, energizing and most importantly he truly experiments with different genre and has ushered in a touch of world music with Bangla tunes which helps people from any nationality connect with his music.   Those who are away from Bangladesh but are in touch with contemporary Bangladeshi music scene are aware of this.  Those who aren’t, well, its never too late.  For all of the groups above and for people who are interested in Bangladesh, there is a chance coming your way in two weeks.  Please DON’T MISS IT!!   There is something for everyone.  His contemporary hits will please the young music fans,  his Rabindra Sangeets and folk songs will please the traditionalists. Arnob is now touring with his spectacular band for Drishtipat in USA, UK and Canada.  Along with an array of local talents,  Arnob promises spectacular performance.  Buy your tickets quick and fast as they are going away and it is going to be a sold out concert.

Check out the website for http://www.drishtipat.org/concert2008 for dates and ticket information.

Concerts start in two weeks.   Drishtipat volunteers have been working round the clock to bring the best of Bangladesh to you and also because this is a benefit concert and any benefit will go towards supporting Drishtipat’s 2009 projects.  If you have ever thought that the work done by Drishtipat’s volunteers if of any use, please come and show your support.

October 18th: Washington DC
October 25th: New York
October 26th: Toronto
October 30th: London
                          

Come and join us in celebrating Bangladeshi music and Bangladesh.  Also if you can not come for any reason, please feel free to donate to our cause.  Over the next few days, we will bring you various stories of positive change where you can add your value.

Having lived outside Bangladesh for decades, I discovered the author late, through an interview by Ahmed Mostofa Kamal published in Prothom Alo in November 2006. I was fascinated by both the man and author who surfaced in this conversation. I devoured his books. Each novel was unique, and I marvelled at the variety of voice. The lack of sentimentality in his 1971-based Jibon Amar Bon touched a chord. I was intrigued that many of his stories focused on a passive, alienated man, sometimes juxtaposed with another kind, men of bravado who can reveal delicacy of feeling.
     I felt that his stories deserve a wider readership, and English being my writing language, I began to translate his fiction.
     I also wanted to meet the man. I’d heard he was a terrific storyteller, but selective about whom he let near. When I phoned, he answered in a plain voice, “Come.”

More from Mahmud’s write up on this enigmatic personality.

The Indian diaspora seizes any and all cultural signifiers (from American Idol to Spelling Bees to Harold & Kumar) and melds it to a narrative of cultural triumphalism. We can have a left/subaltern debate about whether that “India Shining” super-narrative is a healthy thing, but majority of Bangla diaspora (centrist/conservative/apolitical) has not rejected such a narrative for political reasons. Therefore, is the Bangla diaspora’s failure to capitalize on similar moments cultural ambiguity, hysterical blindness, or incompetence or…? (more…)

I found myself at the Boi Mela on a temperate February Friday with a line that stretched all the way to the Shahbagh intersection on one side and Doyel Chattar on the other, dividing itself at TSC.

“Oh my God! Let’s come back some other day!”

“Kirey? Tui ki Bangladeshey notun ashchish naki? Chol shamney!”

We made our way towards the entrance of Bangla Academy.

“Can you imagine cutting into a line like this? That would be the fight of the year!”

“Let’s wait. This is Dhaka, not some bloody Western city where we queue up! We have true freedom here!”

The words were not altogether devoid of irony.

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Tired of speculating about the regime’s next move, or feeling disgusted about the blatant human rights violation, or worrying about the skyrocketing prices? Here is something completely different to discuss over. Is the Bangla we speak ‘mangled’? Should we be worried about the demise of ‘impeccable’ Bangla? Who decides the standard of impeccability anyhow? These questions were raised in a series of articles in Prothom Alo some time ago, and have been revived by a recent Daily Star piece (hat tip: Udayan). I’ll summarise these articles first before ending with some thoughts. Looking forward to the comments.

(More at Mukti)

As the boimela in Dhaka has started again, in the absence of any new post on it, we are recycling from last year assuming some of our newer reader may have missed it. - admin

I always prefer visiting Bangladesh in February as it gives me an opportunity to visit Boi-mela. As I was in Dhaka this february, I made sure to visit the Boimela.

I picked a week day early afternoon with the hope that the crowd will not yet be that heavy. I was proved wrong as I noticed the end of the line in front of Dhaka museum in Shahbag. A good mile walk from there.

The walk was great. Lot of interesting things around. Like these group of students in the photo below are busy in raising some fund for a sick friend/class mate. Whereelse in the world you will see this sort of empathy?
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At approximately 2 am on Dec 22, one of the 13 crates in the 2nd shipment of artifacts to Musee Guimet in Paris vanished from the tarmac of ZIA International Airport, Dhaka.

The missing crate is Crate # 5, which corresponds to Item 19 & 20 in the Artefact List From French Embassy.

Visnu/Clay/70 x 36 x 14,5 cm/Bangladesh National Museum/E-94.2385/19
Bust of Visnu/Clay/47 x 39 x 17 cm/Bangladesh National Museum/E-69.123/20

Catalogue
Page 144 (Visnu Text)
Page 145 (Visnu Statue)

Page 146 (Visnu Bust)

Chronology
1. Storm: For months controversy rages over proposed lending of artifacts to Musee Guimet. Shipment bound for France is blocked by authorities. Court case, led by Advocate Tania Ameer, blocks shipment for two months, forcing postponementg of October opening of Guimet show.

2. Protest: Finally Upper Court vacates lawsuit, clearing path for shipment to France. First shipment leaves for Paris in the face of protests at national museum. Debate escalates on national television. French Embassy & Musee Guimet respond to protester charges.

3. On Patriotism: The rhetoric heats up. People supporting the show are accused of being “France er dalal”.

4. Final Countdown: A new court motion is filed by Barrister Amirul Islam, blocking the second shipment. Vacation bench of court overturns the Islam motion, clearing way for second shipment. On Eid day, second shipment of crates sent to ZIA airport.

[Photo: Munir Uz Zaman/Drik News]
5. The Fix: At 1:00 am French embassy officials complete all customs formalities for shipment of the artifacts. GOB videotapes proceedings. French officials leave airport. At 2 am representatives of Homebound count crates again and discover one crate has vanished. Joint Forces seal off ZIA Airport. Civil Aviation authorities questioned.

[Photo: Munir Uz Zaman/Drik News]
6. The Tamasha: Ansars working at Airport arrested. Jahangir Alam of National Museum & Zakaria of Varendra Museum arrested. Emergency meeting of Culture Ministry. Empty crate found at pond near airport.

7. The Big Payback: Crate 5 contained Statue of Visnu (terracota, black) & Bust of Visnu. High resale value on international underground art market as they are unique pieces.

Post Comments Here

I sent a list of questions to Guimet organizers, and received the following replies over e-mail. (more…)

As the argument between the progressives over Guimet-gate intensifies, here is a counter argument that was sent anonymously. The fault line is clear. We leave it up to the readers to decide. Previous post: Tintin in Bengal

1) Why are there discrepancies in the lists?
Unfortunately the lists which have been scanned and put up were working documents and not the latest ones. One has to just flick through the Guimet Catalogue on the exhibit to see that each and every item is in there, accession number, origin, museum info and the rest. The Government has the latest list and should have handed it to the civil society group. It is a pity that it did not do so. One might raise doubts as to why one would want everything unpacked and rechecked just as the stuff was ready to leave – especially after it had passed the muster of the apex court. And particularly since the packing was done by expert packers (firm that has done this for many other intl exhibitions) but the unpacking would have been supervised by none other than the eminent ‘expert’ lawyers and army officers on the Committee (we dare to say probably unlikely to have any experience of working with artifacts in the past, though of course we may be wrong about their renaissance capacities).. (more…)

Tintin in Bengal, or Musee Guimet Controversy
Naeem Mohaiemen

The two month controversy simmering over the loan of centuries old artifacts to Musee Guimet abruptly boiled over Friday. On the Jumma day of rest, a time when many are sleeping in, relaxing, addafying, or contemplating unfinished art projects, a convoy of trucks were loaded with crates of artifacts from the National Museum. Headed to ZIA airport, en route to Paris. Is Paris burning, what’s the rush..?

The French Embassy and some GOB officials had decided that matters had dragged on long enough. The show was supposed to open in October, but Bangladesh citizen groups had thrown a chaku in the works with lawsuits, press conferences, statements and protests. When the courts “vacated” the lawsuit blocking the loan on Thursday, the first shipment got underway in defiance of good manners. Word leaked out, protesters gathered, signs were held, human chains formed, one protester arrested. By the time more people arrived, the trucks were gone.

When the controversy first bubbled up, many of us were too confused to take sides. On both sides of the fence were cultural producers/activists whom we respected. Even the lawyers representing two parties were familiar activists. One friend said to me “boba r shotru nai (the deaf-mute has no enemies), best to stay silent bhai. Too many big guns on both sides.” The opposition to the loan felt like kneejerk nationalism to me. The French are the good guys no, isn’t it Americans we’re all afraid of now?

The French Ambassador said protesters’ concerns are “objectionable and insulting”. Bit foolish that, very undiplomatic language– guaranteed to get everyone’s hackles up. I spent too much time reading Tintin in my wasted youth. But a translated Tintin in Congo remained elusive until I found a bootleg copy in Nilkhet where Tintin is teaching African natives “Repeat after me, Belgium is your motherland”. Rubber-lipped sambos. Yessa boss. Did King Leopold collect art as well? But Zafar Sobhan pointed out that I was making too tendentious a point to link

I went down to the Alliance Francaise cafe, five blocks from my home, to investigate. If there was so much opposition inside Bangladesh, shouldn’t the Guimet at least show courtesy/sensitivity and delay until the issue is resolved? Tish tosh explained the man at the next table: “the people who oppose the loan just don’t want the world to know that this region has such an incredible pre-Islamic heritage.” Those who oppose this loan are the enemies of globalization doesn’t make sense either. Shishir Bhattacharjee?

But the protesters’ position also keeps shifting. First their approach seems reasonable. Then I read their statements and find major flaws. When I point these flaws out, I am treated to a deep freeze. Apparently I am only an ally as long as I toe the line. The initial opposition was focused on the esoteric edges of the debate (if the plane crashes, send replicas, why 4 months, etc), rather than the hard facts. But the hard facts that have been brought out also seem to have holes in them– as I discovered after studying the French embassy+Guimet response. (more…)

VIDEO: Protest Press Conference
VIDEO: Protest Press Conference 2

Protesters battle police as trucks secretly carry artifacts to the airport en route to Musee Guimet, France.

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Retired Major General C R Dutta, who commanded sector 4 which comprised most part of greater Sylhet in 1971 independence war, has demanded the government revoke the constitutional recognition of Islam as the state religion.

The administration of the then military dictator HM Ershad in 1988 approved a constitutional amendment, making Islam the state religion amid howls of vehement protests from political and social platforms including other ethnic groups.

“I demand that the status of Islam as the state religion be annulled. We didn’t fight for independence to make Islam the state religion,” Dutta told a commemorative meeting of the 89th birth anniversary of General MAG Osmani, the commander-in-chief during independence war. He said the country’s original constitution, passed in 1972, must be reinstated to resolve political problems. “The four principles of the 1972 constitution like democracy, secularism, Bengalee nationalism and socialism should be reinstated,” he said. [bdnews24.com]

গত মাসে আমি যখন রাইজিং ভয়েসেস এর ব্লগ আউটরিচ প্রজেক্টের মাইক্রোগ্রান্ট সম্পর্কে এখানে জানাই তখনও বাংলাদেশে সিটিজেন মিডিয়া উদ্যোগগুলো সম্পর্কে তেমন জানতাম না। বাংলাদেশে আসলেই কিছু কাজ হচ্ছে এ নিয়ে।

৪০টি ভিন্ন দেশ থেকে মোট ১৪২টি প্রকল্প প্রস্তাব এসেছিল রাইজিং ভয়েসেসে। তার মধ্যে বাংলাদেশ থেকে ৫ এর অধিক আবেদন ছিল। আনন্দের সাথে জানাচ্ছি ৫টি সফল প্রকল্প যারা ফান্ড পেয়েছেন তার মধ্য দুটিই বাংলাভাষী এবং একটি বাংলাদেশের। গ্লোবাল ভয়েসেস থেকে তাদের সম্বন্ধে:

কাজী রফিক ইসলাম এবং ক্যাথরিন ওয়ার্ড – ঢাকা, বাংলাদেশ:

কাজী রফিক ইসলাম এবং ক্যাথি ওয়ার্ড হচ্ছেন ঢাকার নারী জীবন প্রকল্পের যথাক্রমে সমন্বয়কারী এবং নির্বাহী পরিচালক। এদের ওয়েবসাইট থেকে আপনি জানতে পারবেন তারা ঢাকার যুবনারীদের নিয়ে চোখে পড়ার মত কাজ করছেন। রাইজিং ভয়েসেস ক্ষুদ্র অনুদানের সহায়তায় তারা তাদের বর্তমানে সেবাদানরত বাংলা, ইংলিশ এবং কম্পিউটার ক্লাসের মাধ্যমে বাংলাদেশী নারীদের ব্লগিং, ফটোগ্রাফী এবং ভিডিওব্লগিং করতে শেখাবেন। আপনারা ‘বাংলাদেশ আমাদের চোখে’ এই ব্লগের মাধ্যমে ইতিমধ্যে এইসব নারীদের পোস্ট করা কিছু নমুনা দেখতে পারবেন।

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With the weekend coming, time to focus on something different and explore the lighter side. Sahana Bajpaie, as some of you know, has recently released an album on Rabindra Sangeet. Last time we checked, the cds were flying off the shelves and the buyers were mostly of younger kind who do not typically pick Tagore when it comes to their music taste. So what made the difference this time around? Well partly its Sahana’s singing and partly it is musical composition around the songs by Ornob. Both gives a very trendy brush up to the old man’s song. Here is one of the songs from the album. Click here to listen or download.

Feedback’s Maqsud tried something similar 8 years ago. At that time, he said he wanted to make Rabindra Sangeet played in the dance floor of clubs in 2010 and that was his attempt of updating the songs. Novel idea but poor execution. But even outrageous was the reaction he got. Out came the knives of the Tagore fundamentalists. Pages after page were written by Wahidul Huq, Sanjida Khatun and the similar leading Rabindra gurus saying that this shows extreme disrespect towards the great poet and these should immediately stop. Bechara Maqsud was virtually banned from doing any further show in BTV after that.

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দৃষ্টিপাতের দুই বছর পুর্তি উপলক্ষে শুরু হচ্ছে বাংলায় ব্লগ।

ইউনিকোড ব্যবহার করে এখন অতি সহজেই বাংলায় ব্লগে লেখা সম্ভব এবং যে কোন প্লাটফর্মে থেকেও আপনি বাংলা পড়তে এবং লিখতে পারবেন। আপনার কম্পিউটারে বাংলা স্ক্রীপ্টে লেখা দেখানো এবং টাইপের কোন সমস্যার সমাধানের জন্যে বাংলাপিডিয়ার এই তথ্যগুলো কাজে দেবে।

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